Disappearing Inque
by Ryoko Lasgalen
Summary: *FIN* Inque is back, and she's kicking Batmans butt... will Bruce be forced out of retirement to help his student? If you liked the episode-this is MUCH deeper.


**Disappearing Inque.**

-_Original story from "Disappearing Inque" by Warner Bros__. Adapted By Ryoko._

Batman Beyond episodes are great!!  But with all the good stuff they fit into 20 minutes, you cant help but wonder what would be if they had longer.  This is MY take on one of the best episodes in the series.

A few months earlier…

_An assassin for hire, and a woman with unusual talents, Inque, was more than happy to accept an assignment from Powers.  Her mission; to sabotage FoxTeca industries, giving Wayne Powers the full rights to build a government space station, a very profitable deal in the eyes of Powers.  Naturally, the Batman shows up during her mission and a new enemy is made.  Batman fails to stop her, but succeeds in making Powers furious at his intervention.  Powers assigns Inque to a new objective, to Kill Batman, AND the "man who helps him".  After sneaking a ride on the Batmobile, Inque finds herself in the Bat cave.  In the fight that ensued, the old man uses a water hose to keep Inque back, but she is eventually beaten when Batman uses Mr. Freeze's gun to freeze her in her tracks. _

_Frozen in a cryogenics lab for months, with nothing to do other than repeat her defeat in her minds eye and listen to a lab assistant endlessly talk to her about his life and how bad it is, she sets about plotting her revenge, wishing for a chance to execute it._

Such a strange place to call home, yet that's where he was, he was home.  They were home.     He had seen the exo-suit before, of course, but it was still an interesting concept as far as he was concerned, so he played along anyway.  "What is it?"  He ran his hand across the shimmering silver shoulder of the mighty suit before him.  

"It's an exo-suit," replied his mentor, who thought he would play along also.  Bruce knew what questions the boy had about this extraordinary piece of kit, and answered them before they were even asked, but Terry was used to that.  "It increases ability and endurance."  Terry looked over to the old man, his eyes asking the next question he had on his mind.  "When I tested it, it put too much of a strain on my heart."  The suit had only ever been tested, with near fatal consequences for its owner.  There was no question of Terry ever using it; there was no need for him too, not at his age or in his physical condition. 

"And that's why you gave up being Batman."  It wasn't meant to come out as more of a statement than a question, but it did all the same.  Terry's eyes were much better at asking questions than he was.  

"Yes, partly"

"-I don't believe you."  Bruce expected as much.

"Would I hide anything from you?"

"I don't know, it's taken, what? Six months to get you to show me around the cave?"

"Something always got in the way."

"Right."  Bruce had walked slightly ahead of Terry and both their voices echoed in the distance between them.

"Would I lie to you?"  Terry's eyes closed as he knelt down to stroke the loyal dog at his side behind the ear, his lips in a mysterious smile, the kind of smile you have when you know something you think someone else doesn't. 

 "No-" Bruce wouldn't ever lie to him; he knew that more than anything.  He opened his eyes but still did not look in Wayne's direction. "-But you do intentionally hold things back."  He was right, of course.  "Lots of things… Important things." It was a good thing that Bruce had his back to his protégé; he wouldn't have liked the kid to see the coldness in his face, there was more to Terry than met the eye, and he was right, he held a lot of things back, and he wasn't sure why.  Was it to keep things from Terry?  Or was it to keep things from himself?  There were a lot of things about his dark past that he wasn't comfortable talking about, not even to Terry. "Someday you're going to tell me the _real_ reason why you stopped being Batman."  He didn't say anything to Terry, he knew he was right, but that would remain his secret, for now.

---

It was cold.  Very cold.  The room was almost desolate, machinery on one side hummed and occasionally beeped.  On the other side, behind a prison of bulletproof glass stood ice: a huge block of ice, inside, the cold figure of the frozen Criminal.  The doors on the far side of the room slid open and a man walked through in a huff.  

"Not important enough" he mumbled bitterly to himself before turning to the cold black figure.  "The work I do here '_isn't important enough'_".   He was about 35; he wore a plain short sleeve shirt that he left open, showing the plain white t-shit underneath.  "I bet **_you_** never had that problem" he spoke to the figure; "I bet **_you_** never had to take such disrespect" he spat.  He walked over to the woman in the ice and stared for a moment.  Her figure was featureless, but all the same he found her beautiful.  "They don't pay me nearly enough for the work I do, _you_ think I'm important, don't you?"  He seemed disappointed when she didn't reply.  "You are always here for me Inque."  He moved closer to the glass, what little light there was in the room moved across it and its icy black package.  "You are the only person who ever listens to me."  He lived alone, he had never married, never really had a girlfriend, never a friend!  She was the only person he knew would listen to him and his stories.  Sometimes, he could hear her reply, hear her comfort him, 'Its ok Aaron, I'm here, _I_ need you'.  He smiled, the things he would often hear her say in his head, but it was only in his head.  How he wished she could say that to him herself.  He was distracted suddenly when the phone rang.  "Crap."  He picked it up, not that he wanted to talk to anyone else. 

"Aaron, boss wants you in his office, now."  The phone hung up before he had a chance to say anything.  

"Hey," a thought hit him "Maybe he's changed his mind."  He closed the space between himself and the prison once again.  "Maybe this will bring me luck."  He leaned forward and gently kissed the steaming glass.  His thoughts clicked back into place and he left the room.

"You had me filmed?"  He was outraged!  The image of him kissing the icy figure played again and again on the screen on the office desk. 

"And rightly so, you've been spending an awful lot of time in there recently, and _now_ we know **WHY**!"

"Bu- b-b-bu-"

"No buts, clean out your locker, you're out of here"

"You cant!  You can't do this to me!!  I've been one of your most loyal employees!! I-"

"LOYAL?!  Get out of here now, or everyone will know what you are, you're a sicko Aaron, get off my property."  What could he do?  That was that, he had to leave, leave his work, his job, Inque!!…. His life.  There was nothing he could do.

Nothing.

The night outside was cold; Gotham wasn't exactly a city in the sun, and it was showing.  Still, his long coat and hat kept him warm.  It made him look suspicious as hell!  But it kept him warm.  "_Not important enough_" he mumbled to himself.  He clambered up the fire escape at the back of the grey stone building.  After all, he was no longer an employee, he had nothing to loose, and everything to gain.  He opened the door to the power supply to the building beneath his feet.  "'Not important enough', am I?"  He scanned down the list of numbers and switches, 313, 314, 315, "ah" _316_.  He pinched the small plastic switch between his thumb and index finger.  "I'll show them", the switch clicked as he flicked it, in the background he heard part of the power shutting down.

A few floors below the roof, a lone guard was on duty.  He passed the corridor a few times, before stopping for a moment to examine his reflection in the glass of a door, and then resume his work.  He passed the door several times, his head a minefield of questions and answers.  "I wont get in trouble, after all, its only one doughnut, nobody will even see me eat it, so what's the problem?  _Mmmm, doughnut_."  The lights flickered momentarily, "Hmm? Ah, whatever, I'm getting jumpy in my old age".  He happened to glance again through the dark glass into the room.  "What the- INQUE'S LOOSE! INQUE'S LOOSE!" He roared the alarm as he watched the black ooze slip from the melting ice and take form.  He ran back down the corridor and around the corner "Agh!" 

"Beat it" she ordered, knocking him out as she passed.  "Pfft, men."  'Never mind' she thought, 'some of them come in useful at some time or another'.  She made her way to where she knew the exit was.

"What's that?"  The alarm rebounded off the walls in the cave, making it sound much louder than it actually was.

"A security system" said Bruce "I took the liberty of installing it, helps me keep track of certain _friends_ of ours."  He programmed the computer to tell him what it had found. 'Gotham cryogenics lab' was displayed on the screen as both men leaned to read it."  Terry, who had been leaning on the back of Bruce's chair bolted without a thought.  "Inque" Bruce scowled. 

"I'm on it" came a voice from behind his chair what only seemed like seconds later.  Bruce turned to see Batman pull on his glove and clench his fist.  The blackness of the mask hid the look of worry, crossed with smugness on his face, but Bruce knew it was there; he had the same worry, and indeed smugness hidden behind his own mask.  Batman turned quickly to leave, the red insignia glinted on his chest, the insignia he knew would now be a target for one of his most deadly foes.  Then a second thought hit him as he remembered where they were the last time they beat Inque.

"Terry."

"What is it?"  The two looked at each other for a moment.

"Just in case."  Bruce Wayne handed the knight the freeze gun from one of his display cases.  They had frozen Inque with it before; maybe they will get lucky again.  It was a good job the old guy didn't throw anything away.

He looked through the visor in his cowl to survey the situation.  Inque occasionally ventured to the window, only to be shot at but the surrounding police.  He had to get closer if he was to hear as well as see what was going on.  No problemo.

"She's letting the hostages go!" shouted one of the armed police nearer the door.  Batman just caught the information as he hid in the shadows way above them.  Usually he would have made some kind of smart-arse remark to Bruce over the link, but he didn't have the heart, for some reason he really *didn't* have the heart.  The door opened and people started trickling out, a few at first and then more and more.  He scanned each of them, or as many as he could in groups as they came through the door looking for, something, anything, even he had only a vague idea of what he might see. 

"Bingo" he muttered, more to himself than to Bruce.  The man himself didn't looks so suspicious, but his clothing, that was something entirely different.  Leaping from the rooftop he spread his wings and glided extremely fast towards the crowd of people on the ground 'Gotcha'.  His foot was on an immediate collision course with the guys head…'crap', he thought at the last second, before turning his aim to the mans abdomen instead,

"Nugh!!" The guy fell flat to the ground, he put out his arms to block his fall, but it didn't make much of a difference.

"Freeze!!" About 6 officers rushed towards them before Batman could get to him.  All working together, they threw themselves on the Bat.  In an attempt to restrain him one officer had his forearm tightly across Batman's throat in a severe chokehold.  If he had been in a wrestling ring he most certainly would have gotten disqualified it was such a badly executed move.  The others held the Bat by the arms; at least four of their arms to one of his to stop him moving any further.

"No!!  You don't understand," he warned, utterly astounded that the police didn't get it.

"Slag it freak," scowled the man holding him from behind.  Not too far from them, someone was kneeling beside the man on the ground.

"Hey buddy, you ok?" He asked.  The guy on the ground shook his head in attempt to shake off his dizziness.  

"Yeeahhh!!" he jumped to his feet as his black jacket quickly dissolved around him, pulling itself from him and forming into an oozy mess which ran alongside him to the ground.  

"What the-" there were numerous gasps of horror and disbelief as the purple slime slithered to the ground.  The police let go of Batman as the gunk ran like water towards them.  It wrapped its self around the figure of Batman who had not yet gotten up from the ground.  It was Inque all right; he could smell it on the ooze that engulfed his upper body, rendering his arms useless to him.  Switching on the boosters in the suit he charged at the nearest wall, letting Inque take most of the punishment but not escaping it himself.    

"Fire!"  The sergeant ordered his squad, each of them with their guns at the ready.

"But sir, what about Batman" one asked, his tone of voice stating quite obviously that he had no desire to shoot at the Dark Knight.

"What _about_ him?" Scowled the commanding officer.  
"Sir".  The blasts scraped past both Batman and Inque as all the police (with the exception of one who, as was shown through is questioning of his orders, had a greater admiration for Batman that he would dare let on to the rest of the force) shot at the pair.  One or two came awfully close to the pair as they wrestled on the ground. 

"Ah!"  The shot had pierced Inque and in turn hit Batman in the chest.  The suit protected him well, but it still knocked the air from him.  Finally taking the hint, the blackening purple ooze sank away from him, once again revealing the bright red emblem on his chest with a slight scorch mark.  The shots continued as she ran along the ground and disappeared through a drain, the police running close behind in an attempt to catch up.

"Can we block it of?"  Asked the sergeant, referring to the drain the criminal had just slipped through.

"Sure" his officer said, "There's only two on this street" then his tone turned sarcastic.  "Then there's the next street over, then the next street after that, and the one after that –"

"OK!  I get your point!  Maybe the Bat knows something that will help."  The squad turned to where then had left Batman trying to breathe normally again.  They shouldn't have been surprised when he was no longer there.

"Ha-ha haa!"  

"_Inque escaped after the Ice she was being contained in melted after laboratory equipment somehow failed_".

"Shoddy maintenance." He grimaced.  His laughter was almost hysterical as he flipped the TV off.  "Brilliant!" he exclaimed, kicking his feet in the air and hitting his popcorn all over his bed in the process.  

"Aaron."  He thought he heard a whisper,

"Huh?"

"Aaron, its me Aaron." He was spooked, where was that coming from,

"W-h-o-" The room became darker as the light dramatically faded from the window.  He turned to see what was causing the lack of light in his room.  The black smear moved on the window, as if feeling for a way in.  Found it.  The black liquid squeezed through tiny slits along the windowsill, falling to the ground and then taking shape.  

"Inque!!" he said, half taken back, half overjoyed at her presence.  She stood a few inches taller than him, light barely escaping from the darkness of her surface.  "How, you know where I live?"

"How could I _not?  _Months of listening to you endlessly moan about your boring- pathetic-life."  She wandered further into his room, examining her surroundings almost with disgust, especially at seeing the popcorn covering his sheets and floor.  Aaron thought for a moment:

"Y-You could hear me?" He looked worried as she turned to him.

"YES I could hear you…. and _see_ you too."

"Gnnh" he slapped his forehead and averted his gaze from her, remembering the numerous times he had planted a kiss on the glass in front of her, or the times he had run his hand along the shape of her figure, and even the times he just sat there, staring.

"I need a place to stay for a while, and I need you to do a favour for me.  There'll be a reward." She added.

"Sure, Anything.  I'd do anything for you."

"I had a feeling you'd say that."  She put her arm around the back of his neck and ran her hand over his hair like a dog.  'Men are so weak' she reminded herself 'Especially when they are so pathetically besotted.' 

"What do you think you are doing?"

"Sealing up the cracks."  He states, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.  The old man looked at him blankly, and who could blame him.  "She knows where the entrance to the cave is, Bruce-"

"-And you think she's coming back here."

"She might, do you want to chance it?"

"Don't bee too sue McGinnis, it was dark that night, it was a long time ago... Then there's the way you drive," he added with an amused smile.  Terry didn't see the funny side.  He switched the blowtorch back to full and continued 'sealing up the cracks' in the walls.  "I'll be at the microscope," remarked Bruce.

"Hmm?"

"Know your enemy McGinnis," he stated as he walked away.  "Inque left a little of herself on your suit."  He held up a small slide with the dot inside.  Both men worked for a while, each keeping out of the others way.  Bruce didn't move from his seat at the microscope.  Terry had half expected Bruce to call him over so that he too could get in on the detective work, but he rightly assumed that if Bruce found anything, he would be the first to know.  He stood up to stretch his legs, he had been on the cold floor for a while now and his knees were cold and stiff.  Would she really want to come here?  She knew where the cave was; she knew about Bruce, well, she knew here was an old man working with Batman.  Her coming was not as out of the question as Wayne made it out to be.

"Would you like something to eat?"

"No."

"Something to drink?"

"No."  He took a towel out of the closet, it was soft and warm…maybe this would work.

"Well, uh, would you like to wash up then?"  He held out the towel for her.

"NO!"

"Are you sure?  What I mean is, well, you were in that storm drain for a-"  
"-I don't like water!  **UNDERSTAND**?!" she snapped, amazed at how somebody could be so stupid.  She stretched herself out over the length of the sofa before sitting upright.

"Well, there's not much else this place is good for" he said, walking over the sofa, "except eating, sleeping and washing up.  Maybe you want to do something else? Do you want to go somewhere?"

"Its not dark enough for me to venture outside yet" she said seductively, 

"W-well, it's a long time for n-nightfall."  

"Well", she wrapped her arms behind him as he sat down, her form changing with every movement.  "We'll just have to find something to do until then."  She pulled the television remote from behind him and turned the TV on, ignoring him, dashing any ideas he might have had a moment earlier.

"*Sigh*" 

"What is it?"  Terry looked at the screen displaying an enlarged version of the image Bruce was seeing under the microscope and 2 mug shots of Inque, one in her human form and the other as she was now.  Featureless.

"Her cell structure has changed.  The Human part of her DNA has been damaged, probably as a result of being frozen."  He explained as Terry started to catch on.

"So she cant go back to her human form?"

"Weren't you wondering why when she let the hostages go she didn't just morph back into her original self and just walk out with them?"  Why didn't he?  It was so obvious!!

"Uh, yeah" Terry replied blankly.

"Right" Bruce smiled with sarcasm.  Terry pretended to ignore it.  "She didn't because she _cant_." He finished, turning back to the screen.  

"Then if I were her, I'd be looking for a really good doctor round about now," Terry thought out loud.  

"Ya think." Bruce's voice rolled sarcastically, but with great amusement.

 "There cant be that many companies around here that do that kind of work, lets get on the computer and compile a list of-" Bruce held a disk up in front of him as he started to type over the old mans shoulder.  "-Oh".

"All done" he smiled, Terry took the disk and reached for the suit.  "One more thing." He looked glanced over his shoulder so that the old man knew he was listening.  "It's not as good as Freeze's gun, but it's the best I could do at such notice."  He handed Batman a modified batarang.

"Thanks." 

"Get it open!"

"I'm trying-"

"-You are _useless!! _Get it?!  Useless!"  Both were fumbling with a screwdriver, increasingly desperate to get the panel open before they were disturbed.  Even down such a dark ally, you never knew who might cause trouble. 

"HEY!  What are you two doing down there?"  Both Inque and Erin looked up.  Nightfall had finally come; giving Inque the opportunity she needed to once again venture out doors.  Still, she had to take precautions.  She wore a long jacket with the collars covering most of her face.  She also wore a large (and rather out dated) hat, with a matching bag hung over her shoulder.  It was meant to hide her appearance, but it still drew a lot of attention from people passing in the street.

"Uh- Just trying to find a little _privacy_, officer" she laughed shyly, thinking fast and wrapping her arms around Aaron, pulling him close to her, no doubt to further hide her face.

"Yeah, we weren't doing anything wrong officer" added Aaron, the grin on his face hiding the true nature of their activity as he put his arms around her waist and hugged her gently.  The patrol officer smiled, 

"Carry on" he sighed; turning off the torch he'd had fixed on the couple before walking back down the ally in the direction he had come.  The 'happy couple' paused for a moment, making sure he was gone.

"Don't you EVER touch me in _that_ way again!" she barked.

"What –I was only"

"-Don't lie to me Aaron, do it again and I will kill you!"  The door finally clicked open and they walked into the lab.

The place was huge.  Piping, large and small ran the entire length of the old warehouse.  There was some huge machinery, for loading and unloading vast amounts of chemicals and raw materials, as well as lots of storage space, some filled with shipping crates and boxes.  Aaron knew the place vaguely, it was owned by the man who had fired his arse just a few hours earlier.  Inque, however, instead of looking a great deal at her surroundings as Aaron did, made her way straight for the section holding huge glass tanks full of the chemicals she was looking for.

"Not long now" she told herself.  Aaron walked a few paces behind her, not wanting to cross her or do anything to displease her after the _incident_ outside.

"This is what I came for," she informed him.  She opened the flap on her bag and took out a tube with a stopper.  Her bag was full of them.  It didn't take long for her to get everything she wanted.  This place in particular had very poor security; she would simply turn on these wonderful chemicals like a tap, filling the tubes until she had enough.  "Perfect."  She knew exactly what she wanted, what she needed.  Nothing was left to chance.  "We should go," she told Aaron who still hadn't said anything. 

"Wait" he asked.   He wasn't sure, but he just might have plucked up the courage to say what had been on his mind.  "You said there would be a reward."  

"What ever you would like."

"What I would like, more than anything," he said, sounding like a little child making a wish on a birthday cake. " What I want more than anything is it be like you."

"This is how you want to be?"  She changes her form again so that she ran like water, rising out of her coat and leaving it fall to the floor.  She wrapped herself around him, momentarily covering his face so he looked like her, like Ink.  

 The power you have.  I want it" 

"Then you shall have it."  He sounded so sure, who was she to refuse?  She took one of the tubes from her bag and held it up to him, looking at him through the purple liquid.  "That can be arranged."  Aaron didn't even detect the manic tone in her voice. "What was that?" she whispered, suddenly distracted by a noise in the background.

"Idiot!" He scolded himself as he grabbed the chain to steady it and keep it from rattling anymore.   There were dozens of them suspended from the roof in the loading bay where he was, he had made his way over, under and around all of them, except that one.  He couldn't believe he had made 'such a stupid mistake'.  "Hope that doesn't cost me anything big" he said to himself.  He moved over the crates and barriers like he could walk on air.  He jumped silently from one to the next; making sure to spread his weight, moving from his heals to the balls on his feet so that his footsteps would be as silent as possible.  Suddenly he felt his feet slip from under him.  First he thought he had messed up again, it was turning into one of those kinds of days.  Steadying himself before he hit the ground, he turned to see the shiny black surface, that he hadn't slipped on, but which had grabbed a hold of his ankle as he jumped and forced him to hit the ground.  Before he had a chance to get back up, the ooze, which was still wrapped around his ankle and foot, lifted him up and flung him into a nearby wall.

"Nugh"

"Is that all you've got, Batman?" The freeze batarang slipped into his hand.

"Not quite" he stated.  As fast as he could make his arm move, he threw the batarang towards Inque, throwing the whole of his body weight behind it.  Unfortunately for Batman, the split second it took him to aim cost him the advantage.  She moved, running through the air like water, the batarang skimming past.  It continued on its path and became lodged in one of the pipes on the ceiling.  "_Shit_" he muttered under his breath.  As he essentially lost the only thing he could fight her with, she attacked.  Batman leapt backwards, then again, and again.  Other than keep out of her reach, there was very little he could do until he could get the batarang back.  

Not realising the advantage she now had, Inque again attacked, charging head on at him from above with ever increasing malice. He manoeuvred his way out of the reach of most attacks, most, but not all.  Again he was knocked backwards by the sheer force behind her ever moulding limbs as they came at him at a great speed from a great height, all the while Erin hovered in the background, not too near, not too far from the action, ever rooting for Inque to be done with her business. 

Battered and bruised, his head now pounding from the relentless beating he had been taking for several minutes as his route to the solitary batarang was ever being blocked, Batman once again forced himself to his feet.  In a last ditch attempt to reach his weapon, he kicked his thrusters onto full and charged towards both it and Inque.  The velocity on which his boots carried him was enough to get him pats Inque, and he remained just slightly out of her grasp for mere moments as he soared upwards.  Inque was getting bored, catching Batman from behind her body moulded into a thick black sheet of ooze, which engulfed the Dark Knight, pulling him back towards the ground, all be it thumping and kicking.  The he stopped.

"Humph" muttered Inque, about time too.  Ready to reveal her victory and her prize of the suffocated Batman, her head filled with all the pride it could muster.  Then it was shattered.  Again, kicking his thrusters onto absolute full power, Batman broke free in her moment of weakness, leaving her confused and utterly annoyed, he again went for the Batarang he wished he had never let go in the first place.  Aaron ran about below him, waving his arms like a delusional Hobbit in an attempt to think of a way to help his mistress.  As he swerved in and out of the complex piping that filled much of the space above and around him, he heard much crashing and rumbling below him.  He slowed slightly and looked back to where the infuriated Inque was climbing, quickly closing the gap behind him, her eight arachnid legs making easy work of the piping and obstacles in her way. She closed the gap further, but as she reached for Batman, he finally was close enough to stretch his arm and retrieve his Batarang.  In the same second that it came into his grasp, it was gone again, travelling with all the might his arm and body could muster towards Inque.  
"Inque, look out-NOOOO!" Shouted Aaron who was now far below the both of them.

"YEEEAAAHHH" She screamed as most of her form fell lifeless, the cold from the ice batarang engulfing her.  As she fell, she stretched out one of her many extensions, which were quivering and groaning, and wrapped it around the Batman's ankle.  The fuel in his boots was all but spent and could not fight the force at which he was being pulled downwards by the waning Inque.  As she fell and eventually hit the hard cold floor below, she lost her grip on Batman's ankle.  "Aaron" she cried "you fool, do something!" but he was nowhere to be seen.  Falling, now of his own accord, Batman crashed to the floor a few feet from the black blob on the ground.  It took him a moment to regain use of his body, but when he did, he pulled himself to his feet and turned his head to the mess on the floor near by.

"What have you done?" Came a desperate cry, though from where, he couldn't quite tell.  Out of the shadows came a machine, the great steel forks on the front that were usually to be used for the moving of heavy material in the warehouse were now in the control of a devastated Aaron. 

"Now, get him!" he head the faint and ever fading voice of Inque, although it was quiet it seemed to echo in the darkness of their surroundings.  Commanding the modified armoury with a mere joystick, Aaron swiftly moved the forks and tightened them.  Batman was still unsure of his footing after the battle and was caught off guard by the forks, hitting and clasping at the back of his neck, picking him up and then slamming him into a near pile of metal drums.  Slowly, Inque reformed her body and along with Aaron, grinned at the figure lying deep in unconsciousness on the ground, a small but stubborn trickle of blood slipping from his mouth and pooling on the ground.

"So, do we kill him now?"  Asked Aaron, looking overly proud of his actions.

"No" She said in a know all, commanding voice, vengeance clearly on her mind.  "Not until I get the old one too."

"You're-beautiful" gasped Aaron as Inque momentarily showed the face that had long been hidden by her strange yet deadly form.    
"Its not enough!" She said in anger, as her slim features were again lost in the smooth blackness of her 'inque'.  She pored the last of the chemicals, which they had stolen into a glass and without so much as stirring it, drank it down.  "Ahhh" she wheezed as the hot liquid burned its way down her throat and through her system.  This was sure to work…if it didn't kill her first.

"Nuugh-" Waking up at that moment was so hard, but he had to, he had to open his eyes now!  The last thing he could remember was the taste of blood in his mouth, blood in his mouth, in his eyes and blood seeping down his head and neck and onto his back inside the suit.  

"Terry!!  Terry, can you hear me?"  The voice rang in his ear, his relief at hearing Bruce's voice was overshadowed by the shame he felt having the old man see him in this situation.  He tried to free his arms, which were heavily bruised and chained tightly behind his back and around a thick, heavy pole.

"Yeah, I can hear you."  His voice was rough and weak, but after calling for nearly a quarter of an hour, it was like the weight of the world being lifted from his back to hear him finally speak.

"Are you alright?"

"I-" He wasn't ready to answer that question just yet.  Bruce had the same feeling many times in his own career.

"Where are you?"

"I don't know; the place has a huge glass dome."  He looked up at the pounding rain running elegantly down the sloping glass.

"Is that it?"  
"I'm Sorry" he said half sarcastically, "I wasn't exactly _awake_ when they brought me here-" He cut himself off sharply which sent a shiver down Wayne's spine.

Inque looked at him, her original form restored.  She stood cockily in front of the Batman, looking at him as an evil mistress would look at her bound slave.  

"Terry!!  Terry, can you hear me?!"  The villainess cupped the masked man's chin in her hand.  "Answer me!!" Bruce ordered over the com' link.  Batman's face was cold, steadfast.  

It's the old one, isn't it?" Batman did not reply, he _would_ not reply.  "This is perfect," laughed Inque.  "Tell him we are at the old Gotham Hills arena and he should come right away."  Batman did not reply, nor did he move, only stare in defiance.  "Tell him!!"  His defiance only grew. "Very well then" she said manically, coiling her arm tightly around Batman's throat and pulling him forward, pressing her forehead against his temple, for the first time breaking eye contact with him. "Listen old mad, we're at the old Gotham Hills arena, come immediately, or _Batman dies_-" 

"-No don't!  Stay where you are!  She'll kill us _both_ if you- Nh-aunn"

"TERRY!"  'Well' thought Inque 'that shut him up'.  Her mouth covered his tightly, she kissed him hard, but that wasn't why he groaned, the pain in his lower back where she formed her hand into a point and ran it through him like he and the suit were nothing, was reason enough for that.  It was very discrete, and she twisted her blade upwards slightly to encourage the bleeding, but much to her disappointment, he made no more noise.  It had though, been an after thought, her first was to keep him from talking to the old man any more; the second was to kiss him.  The third was to ensure the old man would come and finally, just or the hell of it, after all, who else was she going to kiss?  Aaron?!  Surely her newly regained looks would be wasted on him.  She wanted her vengeance, a small measure of it at least.  He was short of breath; He had been able to struggle a bit earlier, but not any longer.  As she pulled away from him, he fell to his knee, using all his might to stop himself falling on his face at her feet.

"He'll be here," she stated knowingly. "What is he-" Terry had given himself away somewhat when he had warned Bruce, he had thought of little other than warning him and had let his voice slip.  She had never realised his voice was part of the 'disguise'. -Your father?  _Grandfather_?" She smirked, referring to how old the old man who had defeated her once had been, or perhaps to how young Batman was.  She held onto that thought slightly as she walked into the distance.

"God, Bruce stay where you are."  He spoke softly, not knowing if the old man could still hear him, or even if God was listening to stop him from coming.  He wouldn't, would he?  He couldn't come.  He mustn't come!  "I'm begging you, don't come here."  He coughed, failing to hide his discomfort.

The hum of the computer was louder than it had ever been, the suit must have been damaged, the communication link was very faint, and he heard what almost sounded like a voice on the wind begging him not to risk his own life and to stay there.  The suit was probably still capable of receiving incoming communications, but he had none to send.

"You haven't forgotten, have you?"  Asked Aaronas she moved past him.

"Your reward?"  She confirmed.  She turned to him, reverting back to the blackness of her smooth face, which reflected what little light there was.  "This is how you want to be?"

"More than anything in the world" he smiled; filled with a confidence he had not felt in years, if ever, as she wrapped herself around him.

"Then I hope its everything you expect it to be".

As the heavy rain continued to beat all around, a solitary figure walked up the grassy hill in the old part of town, which lay in the shadow of the great glass dome.  The figure of a man, clad in a long dark raincoat and hat, the only colour being the red scarf around his neck, which looked quite out of place on the stern figure, although his face could not been seen.  He pushed open the gates into the arena where many before him had passed, prepared for battle…. even if it had until now usually been in a wrestling ring.  

"Hello" he called in a low gruff voice.  He heard no reply and continued on into the main arena.  Hearing a noise, he turned and looked down a side corridor.  In front of him he saw what he at first assumed was Inque, but did not share the same shine or colour.  

"Help Me," it muttered, the face of Aaron poking out from the running ooze, which his body had become.  The man took pity on the creature at his feet, but there was nothing he could do for it, not here, not now.  And besides, all he had gotten was that which he had desired.  Turning back to his path, he saw he the tall, bold silhouette of his protégé before him.

"You got away?"  He asked, pondering how he had recovered to quickly.  He didn't ponder long.

"No he didn't get away," shrieked the voice, "And neither will you!"  The figure of Batman melted and Inque threw herself on the old man, pulling him to the ground.  'This is it' she thought to herself.  He did not seem to struggle, which Inque took as a sign of her victory.  With what seemed like little effort to Inque, but with much effort to the man before her, the long coat was torn to shreds, the hat fell from his head and the red scarf fell from around his neck.  The metallic arms of the suit reached upwards and threw her off him, revealing the gleaming exo-suit, the old Bat Insignia proudly on his chest.  

Hearing a noise in the hallway close to where he was, Terry looked to see what was causing the commotion.  His head hurt more than ever, the pain in his back was as bad as it was an hour before and worse.  He wasn't sure whether it was getting worse or whether it was his imagination, either way, it was becoming increasingly harder to bear along with the other injuries he had sustained earlier in their fight.  Maybe Erin and Inque were fighting.  Maybe Bruce had actually come, but as much as he felt the spirit of Batman every time he was in the old mans presence, more so than he had ever felt of himself, he refused to believe the aging man should have to come for him.  To his amazement and subsequently to his horror, the two figures came into his view, the one black and slimy.  The other bold and baring the Insignia he had admired so much more than his own.

Bruce glanced momentarily over to the chained figure across the arena.  He couldn't see any injuries but it was blinding by the way he was carrying himself he had been hurt badly.  His heart sank but behind it all he knew the kid was all right, and that was the way it was going to stay.

"You have to get out of here," muttered Terry.  If Bruce had a plan, he had no idea what it might be, _if_ he even had one.  And for all of it, Terry still couldn't move, his arms so heavily bound that he was more likely to break them than to escape if he tried again.

Inque again charged at Batman, the old Batman, the Batman who's head she wanted more so than that of the young one.  He was good, but his age was beginning to betray him.  He started to fail to block her attacks and soon his own became feeble and useless.  Terry could see his master to begin to fall.  Breaking both arms or not, he had to get free this instant and get to his side.  He tugged at his restraints, he felt the strain on his beaten body more so than ever but he continued to try and fight his way free.  Slightly the chains gave way, but not enough for him to get free as Inque kicked Batman to his side.  Terry was forced to duck or be hit himself by the man in the armour.  Bruce tenderly pushed himself to his knees, but failed to push himself to his feet as Inque closed he gap between them.

"Are you watching this?" she smiled at Terry who continued to struggle.  The same blade she had used on Terry was now once again formed in her hand as she approached Bruce.  From behind, the least of all the things she had suspected, Aaron wrapped himself around her, mixing himself with her.  In disgust she attempted to fling him off her, but in doing so managed to throw the majority of herself along with him.  The two of them fought, Aaron now having the majority of Inque's abilities proved more of a challenge than she had ever thought he could me.  They were extremely close to Terry and again he had to duck to avoid being hit.  Although he wasn't hit, the huge beam he was chained to was.  Taking an extremely forceful blow just above Terry's shoulders, the beam leaned to one side, anymore so and it would topple.

"You are loosing Inque!" he called as Bruce looked up at him from the ground. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"Quiet you!" She screeched, forming her arm into a larger than life hammer and using all her might and anger to slam him in the upper torso.

"Ahk" The blow knocked all the air from Terry's lungs; his body was crushed against the poll, which in turn began to topple as Aaron once again took a hold of Inque.  The beam hit the ground, dragging Terry with it.  Once it was horizontal he was able to force the chain down and over the end, freeing himself at last.  Bruce thought he heard Inque exclaim something that he would only gladly repeat to the most hated of his enemies.  Screaming with madness, Inque threw Aaron to the ground where he lay and stayed.  This was it!!  Batman was going to die!  And it was going to be at her hand!  And the old man was going to fallow or she would not let herself leave this place alive this night!!  As she made her way to the young Batman, he grinned, and instead of moving out of her way, he merely took one of the batarang they both knew was useless to him against her power.  This time, however, it was all he needed.  Aching and bleeding, he threw the batarang at the glass ceiling as the thunderous rain bore down on it, shattering it into a thousand pieces and more.

"WHAT?!" She screamed in disbelief as the enormous water drops fell onto her, bleeding its way through her and quickly diluting all it touched.  

"Are you ok?"  Terry asked, helping Batman to his feet as Inque shrieked beyond the caring of the student Bat.

"I'm fine." Bruce answered as Terry steadied him by the arm.  Bruce reluctantly accepted Terry's arm, glancing at his protégé, noticing the blood on the suit, on his lower back and back of his head, and at his arms where the suit had been reduced almost to tatters in some places, and where bruises and blood were beginning to show through, also to his chest where his breathing was still unsure from the blow which had eventually allowed him to get free.

"Good" he smiled, letting go of the old man's arm.  Bruce didn't return the question to Terry, for Terry would only be content to tell Bruce he was 'fine' when that obviously wasn't the case.

"Poor diluted fool" he remarked, the metallic mask retracting, revealing his aging yet powerful face as the last of Inque was washed down a nearby drain.

"Do you think she'll come back?"  Asked Terry worriedly.  

"I doubt it," said Bruce.  "But it never hurts to be wary."  The two stood in silence for a moment, neither looking at the other or away from the spot where Inque had disappeared.  

"Thank you" said Terry, finally, after much debate with himself as to the best way to say it.

"For what?" Asked Bruce, taking his eyes from the ground and looking at Terry.

"You know for what-"

"-You don't have to say it" he interrupted, 

"Yes I do" said Terry, "I would have been killed if you hadn't have been here-"

"-We'll never know, all I did was stall her, you seemed to do the rest-"

"-All I did was nearly get the both of us killed," he said turning his gaze away from Bruce, still humbled in the presence of the old man after the whole ordeal.  "I owe you my life."  The two were again silent for a moment.

"I owe you much more that that" said the old man.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

"Hi Aaron" the bouncy lab assistant walked into the room where he had sat alone, months of loneliness with only a wacky lab worker to keep him company and tell him stories of a boring lifestyle.  "Cook made your favourite" she said, "Mashed potatoes and peas, mmmmmm" she said, poring hot water into the plate and mixing it together.  "He made some chicken too, but what with the bones an' all".  This was all there was, this was all there will ever will be.

@*@*@

Don't own Batman, Batman Beyond, which are the property of DC comics bla bla bla.

@*@*@

_**As **R. Tursi** pointed out, spelling isn't my strong point, never has been, never will be!  Thanks for pointing out the mistake with Aarons name dude!!_ ^_^**

@*@*@

**Shameless self-promotion alert!!**

Ok, so I haven't gotten round to making a Batman Beyond site yet… so if you want any more crap written by me, go to **http://knightofvegeta.cjb.net** (Ok, so it's a Dragonball Z site and not a Batman site…. It's all I got…)


End file.
